30 March
1.16pm
We are just resting up on the top of checah bald (Mile 143.1 5062ft.) ! We are supposed to start hiking but someone at downhill broke his/her ankle. We have to wait on top of checah bald till the help and the injuried person to come back to the top where the emergency vehicle is. Rocky said its someone we camped together at Shelter last night. So we r here to wait and see who the person is. Hopefully he/she will be ok!


1.26pm
We will soon camp out somewhere near here and sleep all afternoon. Then we will hike tonight on FULL MOON!!!!


6.32pm
CLEAR BLUE SKY!


31 March
8.48am
It was awesome experience! Perfect weather. Not tooo cold! We just passed cody gap (Mile 153.8). Will arrive Fontana today- 17 miles!!!!! From locust gap
(Fontana at Mile 163.7 is the Southern entrance to the Smoky Mt. National Park in Tennessee. AT through the park is 72 miles)


4.05pm
Lousy coverage here. I'm at fontana hilton shelter (Mile 163) for a night. We r taking zero miles tomorrow! But I have to hike 1 mile to visitor center to catch shuttle to the hike inn and pick up the package.


4.35pm
VERY exhausted(after 20 miles)!!! We are really glad we got to experience a night like last night!!! Perfect weather! Very clear sky! Stars were everywhere! Full Moon was very hugggeeee!! We did not even need flashlight to find our way!!!! How cool is that?! We watched sunrise as well. More on PLOG!


6.01pm

Yolo just got his new trail name!!!! Its.... Termite!

March 28 9.57pm
Amazing! I ve had so much fun here at Nantahala! Free beer all the night! 


9.22am
Happy passover! Enjoy your seder! While I enjoy my camping food! Smile! Yolo sends his lick to both of you!


9.36am
Nope no hangover! We will stay at Sassafras Gap Shelter (6 miles hike, Mile 141). We will start hiking at afternoon.


12.15pm
Turning off pager now! Talk when I'm in Fontana (Mile 164)! Bye! Love you!

Saturday, March 27 4.42PM

Bumped at my friend, Rocky, again for like fourth time. We agreed to pair up from here (near NOC) to Hot Springs. So the shipping plan is changed. I will need 7 days worth of food by tuesday or wednesday at Fontana. Hope this won't be the problem.

Ship it to The Hike Inn, 3204 Fontana Rd., Fontana Dam, NC 28733

5:53 PM

We aim to hike from fontana to green corner and resupply for two days then to hot springs!!! And take 2 days offf!!!!!!!!!!!! So the next shipping should be at hot springs. 7 days of food ok? 

Sunday, March 28
9:42 AM
Yeahh! Now I'm at NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center at mile 135) waiting for Rocky's friend to pick us up. We r going to stay at his friend's mirco brew for a night!!! Fun fun


4.51 PM
we r at brewery factory! Haven't opened yet! Maybe on may 1st as they says so. We r sleeping at upstairs of a small room (possible an office). Pretty very cool! We ate food at bar (next to brewery) for free! Nice people! Later on, we will try their brewery beers! How nice!

Jonathan is spending the night at Wayah Shelter, NC at mile 118 elevation 5200ft


Here are two great comments by fraternity brothers of Jonathan


On 3/26/10 12:35 AM, "Adam Jarashow"  wrote:

O mighty brave caribou n yolo!

It's certainly a blessing to receive ur plogs, for they keep me sane thru my hectic grad school lifestyle so far. Sure wish I cld be explorin' thru nature right next to ya right now, but the way u describe things in ur plogs sure made me feel like I'm next to ya. so sir to u for this rewarding experience!

Two things-

first of all, I showed ur blog to my.  cooperating teacher (am on my ten weeks internship at tsd in austin) earlier in the day, and she absolutely loved it and wanted me to share it w/ students. so prolly will show ur blog briefly to my middle school students tmw and explain more abt appalachian trial n etc. but now u'll be officially a role model to my students, so mazel tov for stayin' true to ur wish!

Secondly- am sure I mentioned this to ya before. don't recall if u did read it or not, but will just mention it again. I do highly recommend u to read bill bryson's "a walk in the woods", his experience in appalachian trail. am a biggg fan of his works, but haven't read this book yet (it's next on my book list, but haven't got to do any pleasure reading lately, thanks to grad school). he's friggin' hilarious writer and excellent at explaining history behind stuff. so I do think it's a must read for u on ur longgg journey. I know u aren't big on reading, but this will make u appreciate the trail n history behind it much more. And dude, u got 6 months to kill time! :) I cld send it to ya or ur parents cld get it for ya. just sumthin' for u to think about.

tat's all I got to say for now, as I got work tmw! haha

Mr. and Mrs. Kessel- thousand of thanks to both of you for creating a blog of his journey. It's truly a pleasure to be able to see all of his pictures and read all of his messages to you guys. Even though, I'm an old fart to him and once took him under my wings (I personally recruited him to ylc on his first summer!) and he has grown into a fine man! Heck, he's now a role model to me! So mazel tov to both of you for raising a fine kid, who I happen to be fortunate enough to befriend with!

Lookin' forward to more plogs and pixs on blog!

Safe journey and godspeed to both of you, caribou n yolo!

-Adam J.

*****************************************


From: carpenteriv@sprint.blackberry.net
Jonathan's AT advisor
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:02:08

Caribou and Yolo,

I do enjoy readin your plog that makes me thinkin of my days being on AT. We have been through same things...I carried 50 pounds for 7 days...then reduced to 20 to 25 pounds. I wish I did look at your backpack before ur leavin to GA. In some ways, its better for you to learn while u r on the trial.
Speakin of hostels, when I am done with AT...also, I did think abt own a hostel nearby the trail in near future when I was hikin too.
I would love to meet u up at headquarters in harpers ferry so I can treat you a good lunch. Keep in touch bro! Keep up and think positive! Its tough sometimes as I have been through too. Speakin of difft trail...most ppl said AT is a best trail bec of water, shelter and friendly ppl out there. One of my friends said that he hiked at PCT...he has not seen ppl for more than 100 miles...less water too.

Jonathan (Caribou) and Yolo are now at Franklin at 107 miles. Congratulations on the first century!!
Jonathan is writing a daily Journal or PLOG (Pager Log) which we will post whenever he sends it.
Here is the first one!!!



To let you know that this Plog is not organized, it is based on my daily journal. Some from few ago, some from very recent. So this may be confusing, be patient with me! :) enjoy Caribou and Yolo's PLOG!

   At first two days I was carrying around 40 pounds of backpack (I guess I wanted a luxury trip). When matty quit, I had to carry 50 pounds of bag for other 3 days! Now my bag weight 25 pounds- just because after I experiencing first 5 days, I realized there are luxury stuffs that I don't really need. For examples- ax, camping pillow (I realized I cld just use my dreadlocks as my pillow, duh me), bowl/plate, three people tent (I switched to one person tent), etc, and foods that r way too much.
   I only now have trail mix for my breakfast. Clif energy bar for my lunch. Ramen noodles/tuna for my dinner! That's all! Easier on my back! Concerned about my amount of food? Worry not! Because almost every time I arrive road gap, there are people standing by providing various of drinks and food! I had pizza! Like I said- its a fun community! I am definitely going do this for other thur hikers in future when I have time on my hands!
    At St. Patrick party, I met two cool gals named Ace and Turtle. They were very eager to learn ASL. I bumped into them again at my day off in Helen, GA. We hit off and I have to admit they learned ASL pretty really fast. Good enough we met again at Tray Mountain Shelter and here at Blueberry Patch Hotel! We became good friends! (Not more than that, okay? So quit nagging me abt them! :P)
   Let's talk about mentality in AT. Being alone with Yolo can bring me into different thoughts in my head while hiking . Interesting thing I learned about mentality is- weather does affect your thoughts on that day. On sunny day, I could just keep on thinking about what I want to do positively in my life after AT. During rain day, it does easily make me think negatively about my past and what could happen to me in future. Every time I think of that, I had to shake my head off and try to think something else better. Interesting how it affects you without thinking about it. It does help when you hike with someone else. Just a tip for you all if you one day want to  be in my shoes. Don't worry about me, I got strong mind- thanks to my mommy and daddy! :)
    On 7th day, the weather was way lousy-rainy and fog all the way. But I learned how to appreciate it more after seeing fog cover the trail with very green trees on both sides. Just like sleepy hollow movie only with greener trees. Very spooky but yet beautiful! Tripping actually. Later on, we hitchhiked to Christians owners-blueberry patch hostel for a night to dry ourselves up. I nearly fell on pile of mud, whew! Good thing, I have wrestling skills that helps me to skip the pile of mud!
     Anyway, this blueberry patch hostel has inspired me so much to do something like this in my future. Hostel doesn't charge thur hikers for a night but do accept donations. Because of that, I aint complaining that I gotta sleep on floor with yolo. They originally doesn't allow dogs but willing to let me and yolo stay in as long we sleep on floor! Pfth. They provides various of food from fruits to deserts. They even do laundry for you! Champ place! I saw my other friends again here after three days not seeing them! So nice to see them again!
   Yolo just tapped on me and wanted to share his experience too. Here's Yolo typing: Caribou talks too much, right? ignore him if you want and read this! Arf! I can't say how lucky I am to have someone like Caribou taking care of me! He knows when I'm cold and he would tuck me with him in his sleeping bag. What a life saver! Only thing I hate bout AT the most is carrying my own foods in my backpack! I just wish Caribou could carry them for me so I can run even more! Growls! I just wish Caribou knows how to put things in my bag and balance it right. Sometimes when I run up and the left bag would fall down while the right bag will go up and that makes me run even funnier. Even when on rain day, the left side bag would be covered with mud and rub the dirt on my leg! Hey this is AT life, right! I can't complain! Good thing I'm not in DC sniffing cars' gas! Anyway, I met one cool dude dog named Trashman! Can you imagine Caribou naming me Recycleman? Arf no! Trashman looked almost same as I am only he is way bigger and is mix with coyote!! I had good time knowing what his ass is all about. We would play wood sticks together and play catch-me-if-you-can game! Of course I'm younger and more energy than he is so he lost the game! Woof hey! He has almost same job description as mine- he is service dog for diabetes. Good thing my job is much easier than his, do I really even have one? Just a lucky b.s. job ever! You know, Caribou is lucky enough to have me because I protect him all the time. When I hear someone coming I would run to them and give them my prideful sounds like this- WOOOOOFFFF! Just till Caribou tell me to stop and come back to him. Yup! One time, a small branches fell from tree I ultimately quickly jumped at it and chew it off! Hey just in case if a squirrel tries attack my master! Better attack at it than being sorry! To kill or to be killed, man. I love it when my nana (caribou's mom) sends me freeze chicken treats! Send me more, nana!! Love you! Howls!! The blueberry patch hostel owner actually made me two pancakes with two milkbones on top for breakfast! Very sweet owners! That's my story for now. Arf thanks for reading! Back to my master's lalalalaing story.
   I met a dude, beefstick, who just got his PhD in astronomer! This is his second time doing AT! I asked him why didn't he try different trails in US or even out of countries. He said simply because AT is way more fun since you can meet different kind of people everyday. There is no other trail like this. I hardly can disagree with him!
     I have to say this weather at AT is so weird! On 7th day it was pouring rain just like being in cold shower. Then on 8th day, rise n shine it was SNOWING!!!!! That's right white flakes at everywhere! It was great experience because I always want to try winter camping and here I go! I was most definitely warm on that night. Yolo and -20 sleeping bag were the help! Then on 9th day, it was totally sunny and warm!!! I wore shorts and t shirt! Imagine that? All those weathers just happened in 3 days! Its fun! Its like being tested by mother nature and I am proud to say I passed! :D
   Hiking everyday made my body even leaner! I cld see some abs on me and muscular arms! Wheee!!! Legs r still floppy, give it two more weeks! :)
     Oh Oh yeah, I'm no longer in Georgia!! I'm now in North Carolina! Wheee! First state is gone! 13 more states to GO!!!! Just passed 100 miles marker! 2,076 miles to go!
  Yeah, just wait till I collect every friends' trail names in end of my trip- many got funny names, interesting names, and very not creative names!
   Want know what heaven is? CROCS!!! I had to wear my boots for two weeks-not funny! THANKS mom and dad for sending me crocs!

More Plogs upcoming!

The mountains are calling us and we must go.
Caribou and Yolo (not recycleman!)
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

March 22 8:05am
 Now will hike 11.8 miles today! Wish me luck!


March 22 9:08am
 Its snowing here!!!!!


March 23 4.09pm
I was staying at muskrat creek shelter last night and it was snowing allllll night! Great experience! Now I'm at Carter Gap Shelter for a night. Tomorrow I will hike lightly to Big Spring Shelter. Then after that its Franklin!


Yolo loves walking in the snow! Jump at everywhere! Just like in colorado


7.07pm
I'm going to hit sack now. Catch you tomorrow morning with weather report!
 Good night! Love ya and mom
Caribou and Yolo


March 24 8.30am
By the way we r going to Rock Gap Shelter instead of Big spring shelter because they are supposed to have Trail Magic day (giving out free foods)

March 24 12pm 
On top of Mt. Albert 5250ft. at 98 miles (Jonathan's first 5000 footer)!!

Yolo and his backpack for carrying dog food!

After resting for a day in Helen, GA (Mile 50) Jonathan and Yolo and some new-found friends were back on the trail yesterday, Saturday. They are aiming to make it to Franklin, NC (Mile 107)  by Thursday or Friday.

Here are some pictures Jonathan sent from the trail. In the one with Yolo note the typical AT Shelter (Tray Mt.) which sleeps 7 people.

Jonathan and Yolo reach their first 50 miles and earn a day's rest in the town of Helen, GA*
March 18  4.38pm


Hello! I'm at helen! I'm staying at the most cheapest motel- super 8 for two nights. I'm taking tomorrow a day off. It cost me $103!!!

Great about food and tent. I will mail you the stuff I don't need after experiencing 50 pounds on my back for 5 days!!!! So exhausted!!!

March 18  5.20pm


The experience was very amazing! I met lots of hikers and we became friends. Yesterday night we had huge party at campground (low gap) they gave out free beers for all of us. We were celebrating for st. patrick's day. The trail was crazy! Lots of ups and downs! Especially with me carrying 50 pounds! There are several things I realized I don't need after 5 days of camping. I will mail them out. The list I gave you for food is completely different now. I will send out you a list once I get the package tomorrow. Yolo smell very awful now because he rolled on other dog's poop! Ugh! Now I'm giving him a bath! Yolo is doing soooo great and happy being out in the woods! The views on trail is very beautifull!! The most beautiful sight I have seen so far was at blood mountain. I could live like this forever! Amazing experience I tell ya!



March 18  6.10pm
I hitchhiked the ride to helen- it was easy! Very friendly family. Yolo's paws r super strong! But go ahead and send me the paw healer mom mentioned before.


(Helen, GA,  is 9 miles from the Appalachian Trail and very easy to hitch a ride there and back. It is common practice on the trail to take a day off here and there)


March 18  6.58pm
Helen town is very cooooooolll place to visit!! Wow! Every buildings are german style. Feels like I'm in europe. If u and mom haven't seen this place, you have to someday! 


March 18 8.21pm
Hey all! :) here's my Plog (pager-log)! Happy? :)

Here I am on fifth day of hiking on appalachian trail!!!! I'm currently at Helen, GA (the town u must visit! Google it up!) taking my day off because my legs/feet/hips/shoulders r all soreee!!! I'm on my own w yolo since second day after matty miller quitted due to his lack of proper outfitters (he has no rain coat!) Plus his worst sleep ever-shivering all night long! Yolo did try keep him warm, but it ain't enough for him.  Takeshi had to stop hiking due to his knee failing him! He still want and will finish the trail after his recovery as he said so. Hope so!

    You totally have to experience this trail one day! It doesn't have to be all the way but sectional hike at ur own time. Appalachian Trail have so fabulous culture where everyone are friendly and very supportive. I saw people who started Mt. Springer with me at different areas at almost everyday. Its like having a family at AT. Can't wait to catch up with them when I'm done w my day off!

   We all have trail names, we introduce each others at our trail name not real name. Mine is Caribou. Why? Its a mammal from Arctic- they always hike more than 30 miles everyday non stop. I guess I'm trying to be like them but hell its impossible to do in GA mountains. Its because the trail on GA is like getting on roller coaster all the way! I average hike 10 miles everyday. Not bad for start. Later on I will try start hike more than 20 miles. Hopefully my legs won't give up on me.
    Did you enjoy ur St. Patrick party last night? So I did too!!!! I met one cool dude, PeterPan, and he told me there is a party at Low Gap (one of areas in AT) so we hiked 11 miles togs to there and my.... People are full of green and beers are available for everyone at no expense! I was totally drunk but I got partied out by old irish man (he actually drank more beers this morning before I left!!!) Jeez! Hats off to him!

   Curious how Yolo did so far? He's totally living his life at fullest! He loves every mins of hiking! I have to admit, he's my best supporter ever! When the trail goes up, yolo would just run all the way to top then run back to me and lick at my face and again run to top! He gives me motivation all the way!! I love him! :) one thing I sick of him is when he saw dead animal or other mammals' shit, he would roll over it- damnit! Had to bathe him like twice already!

  Suck to have camera with me because I try my best to take pictures as much as I can but most of time I would just gaze at landscapes and forget to take pictures! Anyone willing join me and be my cameraman? :)

More Plog later on!

Enjoy ur moments with ur day u have!

Love
Caribou and Yolo

PS. Fwd to others who want to read my boring story! :)
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile 


Comments from Jonathan's friends and family
From Janel Grossinger
GREAT story JONO! 
 I'm soo proud of you.  I'm glad you have YOLO with you, just be sure you don't run out of shampoo -you will need it for  this long journey :)
 Stay sober, strong and safe.
 HUGS,
 Janel
***********************
From Harvey Grossinger
Bro Jono,

You better prove us that you can do it.  Look at Moses and his people in the past. They did succeed.  Be a man and send my love to Yolo.

Bro Harvey
***********************
From: Jason Ruzicka
  Caribou- like everyone said, I'm proud of your bravery to face this challenge of a really long journey. We all knew you will confront with struggles but all will worth it at the end of your journey. It's disappointing to see your travel buddies quit, but I know Yolo will not give up because you only live once! ;)

Best luck with the rest of your journey and my thoughts will be with you, bro!
***********************

From: Vivienne Schroeder


So great to hear from you! I'm totally in awe of all your adventures :) please keep sending us Plogs because it's great to hear your stories.. We misscha, and we're rooting for you, too! We know you'll make it to Maine and back if you want to, heh... Sucks that your hiking buddies have backed out on you, but as everyone has already said, Yolo will be a great partner! And it seems you're meeting tons of cool people on the trail as well :) Hiro says woof wooof for Yolo (he misses his bro).. Love ya! Be safe and LIVE every minute of it!

Jonathan's pager (Blackberry) apparently does not have coverage in the area he is in right now so we haven't really heard from him directly since he began the AT on Sunday.

However his friend Matt Miller, who was hiking with him, was able to send us two messages yesterday:

March 15 3.50pm
This is matty whom u met on the evening for our fraternity dinner.. ;) Jon want me to let u know that he's doing good and having a great time with yolo. Takeshi is really back behind with his physical condition, however its not stopping jon :) I'm here just to let u know that he just passed horse gap and doing well.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®


March 15 4.09pm
First three days of weather is horrible.. Cloudy and raining till today, we achieved to have some sunny for few hours without raining however still cloudy once more again afterward... Grins, sorry I couldn't be able to take the pictures cuz I'm leaving the trail due to underdressed.. Literally I'm almost soaked in my gloves, jacket and socks. I had a hard time of thinking to leave both of them behind. So, I had to for my sake instead try to be brave and sleep freezing in everynights. While ur son have awesome equipments which left him in hot instead of freezing. Which are great news for him but not for me.. Ugh! Ha..  I can always try again someday with better preparations. 


Too bad that Matty had to drop out so early on trail - but he promises to try again!!
So it is now just Caribou, Yolo and Takeshi. Hope we hear from them soon.


If you want to follow the detailed hike in Georgia and N. Carolina check this link:
http://www.ziplink.net/users/24601/backpack/ncgainfo.htm
Read from South to North.


FINALLY A SIGN OF LIFE FROM JONATHAN!!!! - NEELS GAP 30 miles along the trail


March 16 4.54pm
Shaloomm!!! We r at neels gap and stayin at hostel. Veryyyy exhausted!!! Very amazing experience! Matty quitted yesterday. Takeshi is like two days behind. Me and yolo are on our own. We met lots of people and they r all friendly! The coverage here is sucks so ill only send you email once.  The next food shipping shall be PO zip 30545 (706 878 2422). I should be at helen, GA to pick up food by friday.
Since I'm going to be on my own- I will need single tent and very light one please. I have with me is 7 pounds for 3 people. Too heavy for me. I might will need another backpack because the belt is too loose for me- even though I tighten it at its maximum.

Other than AT, we are all good and healthy!



March 16 5.24pm
It would be nice if u can find smaller tent for me- I don't really have much available time to find it. Its rollercoaster trail here! Jeez. Lots of ups and downs! My legs are all sore now-but yeah I should be there by thursday or friday depending on my progress.

One of the traditions on the Appalachian Trail is to pick a "trail name" for yourself.

Jonathan has chosen as his name "Caribou" because as he writes:

"Its an animal from arctic - they always move 30 miles everyday and never have any place to settle down. This fits me and Yolo well! :)"

Jonathan is making his final preparations to begin his Appalachian Trail Thru Hike starting at Springer Mt., Georgia on Sunday March 14.

The Appalachian Trail is a 2,200 mile trail from Georgia to Maine, traverses 14 states,  and will take about six months to complete. http://www.appalachiantrail.org

Jonathan will be hiking with his dog, Yolo and two good friends from Gallaudet University, Takeshi and Matthew Miller

Watch this blog to follow Jonathan and his friends' progress.

You can write to Jonathan at: jonk1@tmo.blackberry.net